Chance
by Charbonne
Summary: Tadashi lost his family years ago to a car accident. Hiro has too. Chance however has given the two something they haven't had in a long time, an opportunity to find each other again in the most unlikely of ways.
1. Goodbye For Now

_This is the first chapter in a story initially posted in AO3. I figured I'd publish a chapter a week on here until I catch up to the one on AO3 and then work from there. Anyway, enjoy the story!_

 **Chance**

 **Chapter 1**

 _Goodbye for Now_

Tadashi winced, finding it hard to breathe. He was stuck hanging upside-down, trapped in his seat belt while he felt hot blood traveling from his side to his chest. He closed his eyes, trying not to remember how he got here, how one moment his parents had been traveling to their Aunt Cass's house to drop the two boys off to watching the semi ram into the side of their car. He could hear wet gasps beside him, and he winced, not wanting to look over and see how bad his brother was, not wanting to see anything right now. Especially the fact that his parents' blood now coated the windshield from the impact.

He could already feel panic setting in, and he was gasping himself. This had been his parents' anniversary. They were supposed to be going out for the evening and leaving Tadashi and Hiro with their father's sister. Not… Not this!

He sobbed, feeling the glass in his side shift as hot tears made their way down his forehead to meet his hairline. He didn't mean to argue with Hiro! He didn't mean to cause his mom to yell. He didn't mean for his dad to glance back and try and break up the fight. He didn't mean a lot of things, but they still happened.

A bright light pierced his eyelids then, causing Tadashi to gasp again and open his eyes. There were lights now, flashing lights, and they belonged to the rescue workers outside of the vehicle. There was someone trying to talk to him, but he only gasped louder and sobbed. He turned to look over at Hiro then, trying to see what was happening with him.

Hiro's head was lolled to the side as he hung upside down as well, his face pale as Tadashi noticed a trail of blood dripping down his face from his mouth. He… He had to still be alive, Tadashi reasoned. There were small bubbles in the blood, and Tadashi was just praying that meant his baby brother was still breathing, and that meant that his parents were okay, right?

It felt like an eternity, and Tadashi could taste blood in his own mouth as the rescue workers worked to try and get to those trapped inside. He had croaked out that they needed to save Hiro, that Hiro needed it more than he did, that his parents needed a lot of help and his mom was pregnant and she needed help too and his dad had spent the last few months recovering from a heart attack and he needed help too. All this Tadashi chanted to himself, the information he knew, because he knew the workers needed to know that.

He was in a daze when they finally managed to open the car up, and he could barely wince as the workers eased him from the car and onto a stretcher. A moan finally escaped his lips when he felt the glass shift again, and he felt hands on his face, something being placed over his mouth and nose, a light shining in his eyes as he was moved. He could barely hear the shouts around him, and he soon lost the battle with consciousness.

* * *

When next he opened his eyes, he ached all over. There was a needle in his arm, and a hand clutching his. His surroundings were an off-white color, and something was stuck to his nose. Tadashi winced as he shifted, causing the person next to him to gasp. The sound was feminine, and he turned his head, expecting to see his mom, but was greeted with the sight of his aunt instead. Cass looked to be a mess, her shoulder-length hair a mess and her eyes red and puffy. She was holding his hand, and Tadashi was confused. "Where's mom?"

Cass brought a hand up to her mouth, a sob escaping her. Tadashi's forehead creased in confusion, not understanding why his aunt was crying. Sure, he hurt, but where was his mom? His dad? Hiro? He couldn't understand why they weren't here too.

It took a while for Cass to speak, and she squeezed his hand tightly. "Tadashi…" Cass stopped, and another sob escaped her.

Cold dread seized Tadashi, and he swallowed. "Aunt Cass, where's mom and dad? Where's Hiro?"

"Kiddo," she began, and Tadashi's eyes locked with hers. "I'm so sorry. Oh God, I'm sorry. I don't… I don't know how…" Cass trailed off, and the dread that had seized Tadashi now clenched his heart. Something was wrong, horribly wrong.

"What happened?" Tadashi pleaded, wanting to know, because his parents were all right, his baby brother was fine, everything was fine. Right?

"There was an accident. You remember that, right?" At Tadashi's nod, Cass took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment and exhaling. "T-the accident, it was bad. Really bad. Tadashi…"

Tadashi's eyes widened further, and a cold had settled somewhere in his chest. "They're okay though, right? I-I told the rescue people that mom was pregnant and dad had a heart attack and Hiro was worse off than me and they got me better so they had to get them better, right? They had to have done that. Mom and dad and Hiro are fine. They are!"

Cass's grip on his hand tightened further, and she ran her hand through his hair, trying to soothe him. It wasn't working, and Tadashi could already feel pinpricks of tears beneath his lids. "Tadashi… I'm sorry. They're… They're dead. I am so sorry!"

Cass's sobs began anew, and Tadashi felt nothing. It was like someone had scooped out his insides and filled him with ice. All he felt was cold, and it was too much. Cass wrapped her arms around Tadashi, holding him and crying and rubbing his back and it was too much.

He curled around Cass then, his only living relative, and he felt the dam burst and he was sobbing right along with her.

* * *

Tadashi sat, fingering the material of the suit he was forced to wear and wishing he could just disappear. Wishing for one moment that he didn't have to be sitting watching strangers walk up to him and offer condolences. He hated it. He didn't want to be here, wanted to be anywhere but here, but he couldn't. Not when it was…

He'd watched them lower his parents and his brother into the cold ground, and all he could think was that they would hate it there, that Hiro was terrified of the dark, that his mom would want to be with his dad and that they should have been together instead of in separate coffins, that Hiro would have wanted to be with them both. He wanted to say something, but ever since the day he'd woken up in the hospital, he hadn't said a word. It hurt too much.

He'd gathered every toy that Hiro had loved and tried to put them with his baby brother, but had broken down at the end of it, he'd tried to make sure that his mom had her favorite dress, or that his dad wore his favorite tie. However, every time he tried, he broke down, and he felt practically useless. He'd tried, he'd tried so hard to help them, and he couldn't. Mom was never having her baby, dad wasn't getting better from his heart attack, Hiro wasn't…

His throat tightened and he felt sobs coming again. He'd cried so much over the past week, and he couldn't help but cry again, and again, and again, until he was sure that he should be dry. But he wasn't. He didn't know how much crying a person could do, but he was finding out it was a lot. He was nine years old, and his whole world had been shattered because of an argument.

He'd been staying with Aunt Cass since he was released from the hospital. He didn't have anywhere else to go. His grandparents had died years ago, and he remembered one funeral for them vaguely, but it was nothing compared to the fact that Cass was now the only family he had left. He knew he had to have other family out there somewhere, that it wasn't just him and his aunt, but they were distant at best. He'd never met them.

She had been trying too, trying to help a boy that had no one left, and she was trying really hard. She kept asking if he was alright, she had closed down her shop for a week to help to get Tadashi settled in, but it just wasn't the same. He wanted his mom to be there, to be the one that brushed his tears away, to be the one that held him after the nightmares. However, it was Aunt Cass every time. She was always the one that came when Tadashi woke up screaming, who hugged him and tried to soothe a boy that had lost everything in his life. He wanted it to be his dad that could tell him that everything was fine, that things happened for a reason, that they would get through it. Aunt Cass was doing it instead, trying to reassure Tadashi that the world wasn't over.

Worst of all, he wanted to see his brother again, wanted to have arguments with him, just to wake up to Hiro hopping on his bed and trying to get him to wake up at five in the morning to play or build something. Aunt Cass couldn't do that. She was too much an adult, and she couldn't be the same. She couldn't fill that void. Tadashi just wanted his brother back so he could hug him and apologize for being an awful brother for so long.

There was so much that Tadashi wanted to do, to say, wished would happen that just wasn't going to happen now. It was too late for everything, and Tadashi was floundering. He didn't know what was going to happen, and the reality that he was facing was so much worse than anything he could have imagined. The bad dreams were nothing compared to what now lay ahead for him, because he was supposed to live for three people now.

* * *

Tadashi looked around the room. His aunt had him helping him move things out of the attic, and she had explained that this was going to be his room. Tadashi didn't know what to say about that, not since he hadn't had his own room in three years. He'd wanted his room back since Hiro was born, but he didn't want it back this way.

"I figure that we can go down later today to pick up some furniture for the room, and you can pick it out yourself. What do you…" Cass had come up the stairs after moving another box down, and stopped walking as she took a look at Tadashi. He knew he looked a mess, bags under his eyes from nights spent waking up to nightmares that left him sobbing and looking for people that weren't there anymore. "Tadashi?"

"It's not right. Hiro and I… We always shared a room. Where's his stuff going to go?" It was the first words he had spoken in over a week, and his voice cracked. He winced, looking around again before looking over to Cass.

"Oh, sweetie." Cass walked over and hugged the young boy. Tadashi collapsed against her, silent sobs wracking his form as she held him close. She smoothed a hand through his hair, murmuring things Tadashi couldn't really hear as he clung to her shoulder.

It took a while, but eventually Cass withdrew a bit, looking Tadashi over as she tucked a bit of his hair behind his ear. "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we go down to the shop and I can make us something for a snack? We've been up here working for a while, and you probably need a break."

He nodded and followed her downstairs, and seated himself at the counter while Cass busied herself with grabbing a few things from the back. She returned with a few pastries and a glass of milk, setting them down before the boy before snagging one of the pastries for herself.

It was a silent couple of minutes while Tadashi picked at the food before him, not really hungry but knowing his aunt was probably trying to get his mind off of everything. However, he ended up shoving the plate away, giving his aunt a look as he bit his lip. "It's not fair."

Cass sighed as she came around the counter, taking Tadashi's hands and giving them a squeeze. "I know. I know it's not fair. I know I'm not your mom or dad. I know that Thomas and Mae aren't here anymore. I know that nothing can replace Hiro either. But, we're here. Together. I know I'm not your mom or dad, Lord knows that Thomas was a genius when he was alive, and I know I can't help you in some of the same things that him or Mae was able to. But, I'm going to try. I know I'm just your aunt, but maybe that's enough? We'll try together, okay? Besides, we're Hamadas. We can do this. It'll be hard, but we can."

Tadashi curled against Cass, trying and failing to control the tears he was trying to keep bottled up. He was so tired of crying, but that was all he knew how to do right now. His aunt didn't say anything, but ended up rubbing circles into his back, and the two sat like that for a long time while life moved on.

 _To Be Continued..._

 _For those of you curious as to why Tadashi and Hiro's parents are switched up in regards to race, I want to explain how Cass somehow has their last name despite not being Japanese. In canon, San Francisco was rebuilt after the 1906 earthquake. According to the wiki, "San Fransokyo is set in an alternate future where after the 1906 earthquake, San Francisco was rebuilt by Japanese immigrants using techniques that allowed movement and flexibility in a seismic event. After the city was finished being rebuilt, it was renamed San Fransokyo due to it being a city with Japanese and American architecture combined." Therefore, it can be reasoned that these immigrants eventually married and had children with those of European descent. As such, it stands to reason that Cass is a descendant of one of these immigrants._


	2. Facts of Life

_Here's chapter two, enjoy!_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 _Facts of Life_

* * *

The young boy pinched his nose, trying to stop the blood from flowing while at the same time nursing a black eye. He was seated in a plastic chair, waiting with the other kid that he had gotten into a fight with, and he wasn't exactly happy with it. His foster family sure wasn't going to be. He'd been in fights before, and they had told him he either had to stop, or they would send him away.

It wasn't the first time for Hiro Takachiho though. He'd been shunted between foster homes before, ever since he started school. At first it was because he was rambunctious, or wasn't paying attention. Then it was because he was too bored, and they discovered his genius intellect at that time. Now it was because he was too smart, and the older kids didn't like it that a six year old was besting them in class. That led to fights, and always ended with Hiro looking like he was a human punching bag.

Today, it was because he had gotten bored again in class, and the fifth graders weren't too thrilled with the idea that a seven year old was already trying to do pre-algebra while they struggled with fractions. He couldn't help being put in an advanced class, or that he was part of the gifted program. There were some days that he wondered how bad it would be to pretend like he was just like everyone else. He'd be bored out of his mind, yes, but he wouldn't be getting the crap kicked out of him every time he turned around, either.

The secretary handed him another tissue, and Hiro took it gratefully, knowing he had to look a mess. Shoving the tissue up his nose, he glanced over to the other kid, who mostly had a fat lip and a bruise forming along his cheek. Hiro had to be proud of that. After all, he was small for his age, and to be able to reach the other boy's face was an accomplishment, as well as a quick calculation of trajectory and momentum. The other kid literally couldn't have guessed that Hiro was smart enough to time when his face just happened to be low enough for Hiro to punch.

It really didn't help that he had no friends, either. Everyone couldn't keep up with him, and he had been advanced so often in the last three years that he was already about to leave elementary school and move on to middle school. All the other kids his age were in second grade at best, and all the older kids didn't like having him show them up. He could already read at a high school level, and was already doing math that was beyond them. Science was a breeze for the young genius too, and everything he did, he always aced everything they threw at him. Honestly, it also had the adverse side effect of alienating him from everyone else.

He sighed, swinging his legs and hunkering down, crossing his arms. That was another problem, one that every specialist they sent him to told him. He had an attitude problem, and it wasn't getting better with age. At least that's what everyone said. Hiro couldn't see what the problem was. It wasn't like he asked for people to shun him, or his intelligence. What could have gotten him adopted out of foster care however was also preventing him from being adopted in the first place. Everyone wanted to have the cute, adorable, smart kid. They didn't want the kid that could outthink them at every turn, nor did they want a troublemaker.

He sighed, wondering how much trouble he was going to be in, and whether he was going to have to pack his bags again. This was the fifth fight he'd been in this year, and the year wasn't even halfway over. No, he was dreading having to go home and face his foster parents. He knew they were going to send him away.

* * *

Hiro slammed his locker shut hard, not wanting to be harsh, but knowing that he was frustrated. He'd been advanced again, and the nine year old was looking at the fact that next year, he was going to be starting high school. Same problems, different schools. That's how it always worked out for him. That's how it always worked out for him every time.

At least this foster family was decent, he surmised. They'd had him for five months, and the mom was okay, even if she didn't understand him some days, while the dad had taken to arguing in his favor. They at least understood that he had a lot of problems that stemmed from his intellect.

Hiro moved to walk to his next class when he stopped short. An arm had been thrown out in front of him, blocking his path, and he looked over to see an eighth grader standing there, a sucker clenched in his mouth. Damn it. He just wanted to go to class. "Hey, Takachiho, where do you think you're going?"

"To class. I have computer lab this period." Hiro moved to go past the kid when the guy's other arm moved to trap him in place. Damn. This was not how Hiro wanted to deal with today. He had avoided fights so far this year, and he wanted to continue that trend.

"I don't think so. I think you want to go to your locker instead. It's not like you're welcome in many other places, after all." Hiro took a deep breath, trying to remind himself that the kid was harassing him in the middle of the hallway, with classrooms on either side, and someone was bound to notice this. Right? "You're just gonna turn around and go right back to your locker and open it up for m-"

The kid didn't get a chance to say much else. Hiro had done this same song and dance for so many years now that he did what was basically second-nature now. He brought up his textbook and slammed it into the other boy's face, and then took off running. The prevailing thought that ran through his head was get to class, get to class, because he knew his computer teacher didn't appreciate the rampant bullying that was going on with Hiro.

His assailant had longer legs, and it showed as the older boy managed to catch up with him and grab him by the hoodie. Hiro thrashed, trying to get out of the boy's grip, while he knew there was a circle of other kids surrounding them. Waiting for a fight. He knew it was going to happen, and he clenched his jaw, waiting for the first fist to be thrown.

That never happened. Apparently his computer teacher had been patrolling the halls between classes, and had come across the scene. "Mister Smith! Mister Takachiho! Just what is the meaning of this?"

"He jus' smacked me wiff his tex'book!" Hiro glanced back, and sure enough, the older boy was holding his nose and blood was leaking through his fingers. The sucker had been lost sometime in between trapping Hiro and catching up with him, and the young boy felt a slight bit of grim satisfaction at the sight. Maybe this might teach him not to harass Hiro again.

"Well Mister Smith, I think we're going to have a talk with the principal. Now. You don't even have your books for next period yet." Hiro nearly cheered, that is, until his teacher speared him with a look as well. "You too Mister Takachiho. I can't believe this."

Hiro merely winced and made his way down to the office with the older boy. Sure, he knew that he had won that fight, but he didn't know how much his family was going to appreciate the fact that he had yet again been in another fight.

* * *

Hiro always had anxiety regarding cars. He could never explain it, though at some point he had asked if he had been in any accidents. The response had been an uncomfortable yes, back when he was three and his birth parents had died. Hiro never asked for the details, since he was certain that he had semi-vivid nightmares regarding that crash.

However, that didn't stop the dream-like state he found himself in. Ten years old, and he was strapped into his seat, and his head was ringing, and he felt something wrong with the situation. He groaned, holding his head and looking around, trying to assess the situation. He was still strapped into his seat. It had been raining. There was something flashing in his vision. And the foster family he had been staying with, the one that had mentioned that they might adopt him, were slumped in their seats.

Something caught in his throat, something between a cry and a moan, escaped his lips. His breathing hitched as he realized they weren't breathing. He didn't know how long he had been out, only that he had a ringing in his ears and his breathing was going erratic and he was certain he was having a panic attack.

Head down. Breathe. He tried that, tried counting to ten, tried taking slow deep breaths as he realized that he had, once again, been in a car accident. And he was, yet again, the sole survivor. Tears started forming in his eyes, and he couldn't tear his eyes away from them. He'd been with them now for a year and a half, and they had been good people. He couldn't understand it. Why again? Why him? Why them?

The questions chased themselves around in his head, and he was hyperventilating now, and he couldn't stop. His head started spinning, and he could almost imagine another time, another place, where someone was mumbling that Hiro was worse off, that they should take care of him first. However, when he looked to the side, no one was there.

* * *

Hiro stared at the large building, his large brown eyes taking in the sight before him. It was his first day at high school, and he already felt lost. It had been less than two weeks before that had stolen his foster family from him, and he had yet again been shunted off to another family, one that had decided that he wasn't going to stay long. Hiro could almost feel sick and wondered how bad it would be if he just skipped. He had an excuse, and he could make up the work. He could easily do that in his sleep. He swallowed, and tried to imagine the Davenports, his last family, and remind himself that they had tried hard for him, and he couldn't just ignore that.

Taking a deep breath, he started forward, ignoring the looks that he was getting and making his way to the office. He had to, in any case. They were going to assign a senior to help him with getting adjusted, and Hiro didn't want that, but he couldn't really stop it either. The school had heard about his past problems and decided it was the best course of action.

When he got to the office, he was directed to a seat and told that his senior escort would be along shortly, so Hiro took it and shifted awkwardly. He could see older students poking their heads in curiously, and Hiro felt like a freak. He wasn't on display for them. He just wanted to get done with school so that he could be done with it all. He didn't want to be in school longer than he had to. He had already made it his goal to work as hard as he could to graduate, and he didn't see that stopping anytime soon.

He was getting antsy with all the stares he was getting, and he shrunk down a bit, trying hard not to be noticed. However, that was soon shattered. "Hey, what's going on here? I mean, really? You're just going to gawk at the poor guy? Unbelievable…"

Hiro glanced up, and blinked as an older teen walked into the office, staring down everyone else and shooing them away from the office. Some tried to linger, but the guy had his arms crossed and managed to scatter them before they got any ideas. He then turned around, and Hiro finally got a good look at him.

Black hair like his. Same eye color as well. The guy seemed to have some height on him though, and he had a baseball cap perched atop his head. Honestly, Hiro could imagine that the guy was a geek with a capital G all right. Something about the guy just screamed it.

"Mister Hamada, please take off your cap inside the building. You know school rules." The secretary looked slightly bored as she said this, and the teen blushed a bit before swiping it from his head.

"Oh, um, sorry. Forgot about it." The teen's eyes drifted to Hiro, and Hiro shifted a bit under it. "So, you're Hiro Takachiho, right? Man, you're a lot shorter than I thought you'd be."

"I'm ten, of course I'm short." Hiro hadn't meant for it to sound snarky, but it came off that way. "Besides, what are you? Seventeen? Eighteen?"

"Actually I'm turning sixteen later this year. Skipped a couple of years in elementary school, so I kind of have some experience with not quite fitting in." The older teen gave a lopsided smile, and reached out his hand. "Tadashi Hamada. Welcome to high school, Hiro."


	3. Bullies

_And we finally get to see one of the nerd crew. She's actually pretty fun to write, if I do say so myself._

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 _Bullies_

* * *

 _"Tadashi Hamada, what is wrong with you?"_

 _Tadashi winced, hearing the tone his aunt was using and not sure if he could care enough to respond with an apology or snark. Besides, it wasn't like he wasn't in trouble before. Just the other day, he'd had to get picked up by his aunt for causing another fight with a kid a year older than him. The boy had it coming, though. Especially after…_

 _Cass had other ideas, and twisted his ear in her grasp, causing Tadashi to gasp. "I don't know what has gotten into you. How many fights is that now, five? I know your father didn't sign you up for those karate lessons just so that you can beat other kids up."_

 _The ten year old didn't reply, deciding to stare moodily out of the window. Aunt Cass didn't understand. She couldn't. She wasn't the one without a family. She didn't see them die. Everything that had happened was his fault (his fault he wasn't supposed to outlive his brother). He didn't care. Not now. He knew his grades were slipping, he knew that they were questioning their decision to skip him ahead, but he couldn't find it within himself to care about it. Instead, there was an angry creature in his chest, and it clawed at Tadashi's heart like nothing else could._

 _Cass sighed, readjusting the grip on the wheel before her. They drove in silence, and when Cass pulled into the garage, Tadashi was already unbuckling his seatbelt, wanting to be anywhere but the truck. He couldn't sit in cars for longer than it took to get from point A to point B, not since the accident. He got out as soon as the vehicle had stopped and wordlessly made his way to the house. He made it halfway up the stairs to his room when he heard his aunt speak._

 _"Tadashi, we need to talk."_

 _Tadashi froze, not wanting to talk. He didn't. He wanted to just go upstairs and work on something to get his mind off of how angry he felt. It was a constant companion, ever since he'd moved in months ago. He felt Cass touch his shoulder and wanted to shrug out of it, but instead let himself be guided to the table instead where she went about making them both some hot chocolate before settling beside him._

 _Cass took a deep breath, a frown marring her features before she reached a hand out to touch his. Tadashi jerked his hand out of reach and Cass bit her lip before speaking. "You know, we need to talk about what's bothering you."_

 _"No we don't." Tadashi glared down into his mug, not wanting to look up._

 _He did hear his aunt sigh though. "Well, do you want to tell me why you got into the fight then?"_

 _"Marco's stupid."_

 _"I doubt Marco's stupid Tadashi." He could hear the sigh in her voice and wanted to stand up and walk out of the room._

 _"Yes he is. He called me a mutt and then said that I got ahead because everyone felt sorry for me." He shoved the hot chocolate away from himself and crossed his arms. "It's stupid."_

 _"That's still no reason for you to get into a fight Tadashi and you know it." Cass had crossed her own arms and watched her nephew carefully._

 _Tadashi couldn't meet her eyes and clenched his jaw. "I'm going to my room."_

 _"Tadashi Hamada!" He'd stood and turned to walk up the stairs, but his aunt's sharp tone caused him to flinch and stare back. Cass had her hands gripped around her mug, worry evident all through her face. Angry worry, he realized. "Whatever it is, whatever is bothering you, please tell me. Say something. I can't understand it if you don't."_

 _Tadashi said nothing, instead deciding to walk up the stairs to the room above._

* * *

Tadashi really couldn't believe that he was showing around a ten year old who was going to attend high school. He knew he was smart, especially since he'd skipped second and fourth grade, but it boggled his mind that someone had managed to get to high school at ten. He himself was twelve when he got to high school, but that wasn't quite the same as barely being in the double digits. Tadashi just had a hard time believing it was even possible.

As it was, he was showing the kid around and trying not to be bothered by the fact that the kid looked eerily similar to his mother. Same features, same face, the only difference was the shape of his eyes. His Aunt Cass would probably make a comment that Tadashi was reading too much into it, but the teen doubted it. He himself was just chalking it up to the fact that in a little less than six months it would be the seventh anniversary of his family's deaths. That usually got Tadashi in some kind of funk, and it usually hit right around a few months before the anniversary itself.

He never mentioned anything to the kid, since he didn't think Takachiho needed to know that his appearance was causing Tadashi to remember. Heck, so was his name, but Tadashi could deal with it. Not like San Fransokyo was swimming with Hiros, but he wasn't about to assume that his brother had been the only person with the name.

"And this is your homeroom. You should be cool with everything now. Just remember, the school's room numbers are basically according to their floor, so as long as you know what floor you're on, the rooms shouldn't be that hard to find afterward. Well, except for shop class, but you won't have that probably for another year." Tadashi stuffed his hands into his pockets, leaning against a locker next to the door as the younger kid fiddled with the strap of his bag. He had never looked this nervous when he started school, right? Hiro looked like he was about to bolt for the door at any moment. "Hey, if anyone gives you grief, just tell them they have to deal with a very annoyed senior afterward."

"W-what?" Hiro blinked up at Tadashi, eyes going round as his face crinkled into one of confusion. "What makes you think that I'd be worried about that?"

Tadashi reached out to ruffle the kid's hair, earning a scowl from Hiro. "I was twelve when I started high school, almost thirteen. I remember how bad it was when I was the smallest guy in school. Don't think it's changed any in the three years since."

"Do you do this with all the new kids in the school, or am I just lucky?" Hiro had his eyes narrowed and his jaw set. "I mean, you could easily be trying to get me to do your homework for you or you'd dunk my head in the nearest toilet."

"Unless you're taking my AP Statistics class, I don't think I'd even want to. Besides, from what I read, the math class you're in right now is Trig." Tadashi looked at Hiro, considering. "You're trying to get out of high school as fast as you can, aren't you?"

"Honestly, I just want to get out of school as fast as I can." Hiro shuffled a bit, biting his lip. "I know, school's supposed to be the best time of my life or whatever, but it hasn't been. It's just been one giant mess."

Tadashi frowned, not liking that. Heck, there was a lot about the way that Hiro was looking around the school that he didn't like. It made him wonder just how much the kid had been bullied at his previous schools. Tadashi himself had some minor bullying problems in his years of school, but it didn't last very long. This wasn't right, and Tadashi felt the urge to go all big brother on the kid. Not like he had a lot of time to do that in the last seven years, but he recalled one night when he was younger that he had vowed to protect his Hiro if he'd just come back. It never happened, but Tadashi was willing to try and make it up to his baby brother, even if it meant that he would watch out for someone else. "Bullying problems?"

Hiro gaped at him, and Tadashi could read it easily. It had to be. That was the only thing that made sense. "Look, Hiro, I'm serious. If you ever need help, just ask. I mean, it's not every day that I get to meet another kid that'd beat my own test scores. Big brains have to stick together, right?"

Hiro looked apprehensive still, but nodded quietly. "Y-yeah. I guess we do. Nerds have to stick together."

Tadashi grinned, holding out one fist. "Alright, fist bump makes it official." Hiro managed his own smile, and after bumping fists, he paused only long enough before entering the classroom to look back at Tadashi.

"You're okay, I guess. A nerd, but okay."

* * *

Tadashi chewed on his lunch, not really paying that much attention to it because he was afraid that if he did, he might end up refusing to eat it. It was the same way he had always eaten lunch at school, since he couldn't for the life of him figure out just what they did to the food to make it taste awful. It either tasted like wet cardboard, cat food (he'd had a taste of Mochi's food once on a dare and vowed never to do it again), or something that had been scraped together from his aunt's leftover night. Not that Aunt Cass was a bad cook, but there was one time she'd had to scrape dinner together from leftovers and it left a lot to be desired.

His attention was instead on a section of his chemistry notes, trying to read as much as he could while making notations in the margins. He'd pause in his eating just long enough to turn a page or make a note before going back to it. It was after all the first day of class, and while he didn't expect for any tests anytime soon, he wanted to be prepared for what was probably going to be one of the toughest classes he was going to have.

He hadn't even thought that much about the freshman that he had helped out earlier in the day until he heard a clatter resound through the lunchroom. He glanced up, expecting to see someone trying to clean off the floor or bribing the lunch lady to get another lunch. Instead, he frowned as he spotted a couple of sophomores surrounding a smaller figure. A very familiar smaller figure.

He didn't even think about it, though he knew he heard it from Cass a million times about him not thinking things through all the way. Instead, he found himself storming through the lunch room, students suddenly scattering before him. When he got to the group, he cleared his throat. "Excuse me, anything seem to be the problem?"

He could hear Hiro groan, but Tadashi's attention was more on the sophomores than him. After all, they were all the same age as Tadashi was, even if they weren't in the same grade. "What's it matter to you, Hamada?"

Tadashi would have sighed if he hadn't been in the middle of diffusing what could easily lead to a fight. Instead, he shoved his hands in his pockets and got an easy smile on his face. "Well, you see, I'd rather not have to skip lunch because I had to go down to the principal's office because someone was deciding to harass someone six years their junior."

The other teen sneered, and Tadashi could already see one of the teachers making their way over. Oh good. Maybe this could blow over quickly then. Or he'd gain Hiro's eternal enmity for stepping into a situation and caused it to get worse. "It's not like he's related to you or anything. Besides, what'cha think you're gonna do? Protect him all the time?"

Tadashi definitely hated the situation more and more. Great, so someone was going to cause problems. That was just wonderful. However, he simply shrugged. "Hey, he's a cousin. Family sticks together and all that. Pretty sure you'd do the same for any siblings." Diffuse, diffuse, diffuse. The words were chanted in Tadashi's mind over and over, trying to will this from escalating.

He knew that Hiro was looking at him oddly, but Tadashi was more watching the other teen, who now rolled his eyes and shrugged it all off. "Whatever, man. C'mon Gabe, let's get out of here."

The other teen followed his friend away from the mess, and Tadashi waited a moment before he sighed, turning to Hiro. The younger boy was staring at Tadashi like he had grown a second head, and Tadashi shrugged and made his way over to the counter again. "Here, I'll get you a new lunch. I can probably find something that isn't too horrible in the line." The lunch lady huffed at Tadashi in annoyance, and he simply rubbed the back of his head and looked sheepish.

"Um, n-nothing with peanuts please!" Tadashi blinked and looked over to Hiro, who looked like he had turned bright red and was even now stooping down to clean up the mess that remained of his original lunch.

"One, I don't think there's anything with peanuts in the entire line, and two, I can't get within five feet of peanuts without breaking out into hives." Hiro glanced up, looking surprised at Tadashi, but Tadashi was already turning around to get the lunch.

The two finished getting back to the table Tadashi had already sat at when Hiro couldn't keep quiet any longer. "Why'd you lie about us being related, anyway?"

Tadashi shrugged. "You look enough like me for that to be a feasible lie, and that guy's the same kid that my Aunt Cass chewed out last year for ruining my textbook when he didn't believe I was already a junior. She's scary when she gets mad."

"So you did it to get even?"

Tadashi winced at the bluntness in that statement. "Not even close. I just don't like the fact that he decided to harass you." Tadashi shrugged, thinking that was self-explanatory. "Besides, I did say that I'd look out for you, right?"

"I guess." Hiro blinked and looked down at his food, pushing it around with a fork before he made a face. "I thought you said it wouldn't be horrible."

"I just said it wouldn't be too horrible, buddy. I never said it wouldn't be horrible. That's the stuff that tastes more like leftover night than cardboard." Tadashi was still refusing to look at what he was eating, and instead was glancing at his notes and deciding he could review them later. "Both are better than the cat food option."

"Wait, there's a cat food option?" Tadashi chuckled at the expression on Hiro's face, deciding he actually liked the kid. Odd though Hiro was, Tadashi wasn't lying when he said that big brains stuck together. Otherwise they'd both be having lunch in their lockers.

* * *

It was weird over the next few weeks. Tadashi would get to school early, snag a quiet table in the lunch room to study, and then be pounced upon by the youngest freshman to ever walk the halls in the school. It was nice, and reminded him a lot of another time in his life. Originally he had thought maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to keep his distance from Hiro, but Hiro ended up seeking him out in the lunch room whenever he arrived. They talked quite a bit, Tadashi wanting to know a bit more about his sudden stalker/kōhai, and Hiro looking over Tadashi's notes and trying to figure them out. It felt weird, especially when Hiro would sometimes point out Tadashi's mistakes in his math, but at the same time, it felt… Nice. Like he was getting the chance to be an older brother again.

Tadashi in turn learned about Hiro's life, that he had jumped around from foster home to foster home. There was one point that Hiro spoke about a wonderful family that he'd stayed with, but the younger boy went unusually silent when Tadashi asked what had happened with that home. Tadashi learned quickly that it was best not to ask some questions, especially when Hiro's grief was clearly etched on his face for him to see.

He ended up telling Hiro about his own family after a bit of prodding, talking about his aunt and their gigantic cat that no matter how many diets they put Mochi on, he never seemed to lose any weight. He tried to keep it off his own parents, knowing that was still a topic that Tadashi didn't want to poke too much, especially when it would lead to other, more painful feelings regarding his deceased brother.

Today found him quietly working on his statistics work, making him wonder how much studying he was going to have to do in the class. Not that he minded, but the teacher he had decided that Tadashi couldn't be as bright as he thought he was and was making Tadashi work. Tadashi of course decided to take it as a challenge, and as a result, he was working harder than he probably had to get the same results as everyone else.

He'd turned a page when he frowned, noting something was amiss. Or, more accurately, something was missing. He glanced at his phone and noted that it was fifteen minutes before the bell, but he didn't see Hiro anywhere. Vaguely he wondered if Hiro was sick, and figured if that was the case, he could always get the kid's assignments for him and drop them off. He'd just give the kid a call during lunch to ask.

He went through his day normally, and when he got to the lunchroom, he figured he could give Hiro a call. He'd even gotten his cell phone out just to make sure he had Hiro's number when he saw a small figure enter the lunch room. Blinking, he put the phone away and started over when he noticed it.

A bruise was forming on Hiro's face that he was certain hadn't been there the last time he had seen him, and his lip was split. Tadashi glanced around the lunchroom, noticing that the only two people that were paying attention to the young boy were the ones that had decided to bother him his first day of school. Frowning, he approached Hiro and shoved his hands in his pockets, figuring nonchalance was the best route to take at the moment. "Hey. Missed you at breakfast this morning. Slept in late?"

Hiro looked up, blinking owlishly at Tadashi as he seemed to process what he'd said. The boy then shrugged and made his way over to the lunch line as Tadashi followed. "Yeah, I slept in. My alarm didn't go off."

"Really? Huh, remind me to call you next time then." Tadashi reached over and ruffled Hiro's hair, causing the boy to let out a hiss. "You okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Hiro shifted, and Tadashi could tell that the younger boy was wincing as he adjusted the bag on his shoulder. "I'm just hungry right now."

Tadashi nodded, not quite believing it, especially when he noted that the two sophomores were paying particular attention to the exchange. "Well, in that case, we can grab our lunch and find a table."

That didn't take long, and Tadashi made his way with Hiro over to a table by themselves. He'd started getting his books out when he noticed someone plop down across from him with a sigh and a pop. "Yo, Tadashi, you have your calculus notes, right? Lemme borrow them."

Tadashi blinked and looked up before grinning and handing his notebook over. "Well, hello to you too Ethel. Just got back from Korea?"

The girl in question wasn't even paying attention, already unloading her own bag and digging through it for a notebook. Asian, with similar features to Tadashi, she was short with chopped black hair and biker gloves. Tadashi didn't think he'd ever seen her without them since they'd started high school together. She then paused, her eyes trailing over Tadashi over to Hiro and back. A slim eyebrow rose as she popped her gum. "Someone get hit by a bus or something?"

Hiro sputtered while Tadashi shrugged. "Hiro, this is Ethel Yi. Ethel, this is Hiro Takachiho. He just started high school a couple of weeks ago."

Another pop and Ethel rolled her eyes. "Freshmen seem to be getting shorter all of a sudden. What are you, nine?"

"I'm ten." Hiro was already scowling and crossing his arms.

"Well, whatever kid. No wonder your face looks like it met pavement." Ethel shrugged before returning to the notes in front of her.

Tadashi hadn't even started on anything yet, his mouth drawn into a line as he looked over to the sophomores. They still seemed to be glancing back to look at them, and suddenly the teen knew just what had happened to Hiro.

"Hamada, I swear to god, if you decide to start something in the lunchroom, I don't know you." Tadashi blinked, looking over and realizing he had halfway stood before Ethel spoke. Sitting back down, he looked sheepishly back to the Korean girl. "There, better. Whatever you were going to do, it can wait."

"Wait a minute. What was that all about?" Hiro was looking between the two, confused.

"I wasn't about to do anyth-"

Ethel snorted, cutting Tadashi short. "I dunno about you, kid, but I've known Tadashi for years. Whatever happened to your face, our friend was just about to deal with."

"Wait, seriously?"Hiro looked at Tadashi with surprise. "I thought he was just a nerd."

"A nerd with a red belt in karate." Ethel rolled her eyes and resumed her work.

"I wasn't about to do anything, you know." Tadashi now looked grumpy, his arms crossed as he tried to ignore the stare he was getting from Hiro. "I was just going to talk."

"Yeah, well, when you have this 'talk', bring me along, okay?" The girl popped her gum again before returning to the notes. Tadashi really didn't have a return to that, and Hiro could only glance between the two in confusion.


	4. Missing Them

_Yes, there is some foreign language in this chapter beyond random Japanese. A friend helped me with making sure I got it right (and used it right) so a thank you to her._

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 _Missing Them_

* * *

 _Hiro sat outside the office of his social worker, swinging his legs. He could hear snatches of conversation from inside, and knew exactly what they were talking about. His fighting. The fact that he seemed to bring trouble with him wherever he went. The stress that he had put on the foster parents he had been assigned to._

 _He bit his lip and dragged his legs up. They, like so many families before him, had decided to return him and were in the process of talking to Ms. Martinez to try and get him assigned elsewhere. Just another piece of discarded human wreckage. He hated considering himself that, but it was true. No one wanted him. The worst part, he had no one to blame but himself. If he was dumber, then he wouldn't be shunted off to family after family._

 _Wrapping his arms around his legs, he buried his face in his knees, trying to keep from crying. It hurt because no matter what he did, he always screwed it up. He was always doomed to be some big failure that no one would bother with._

 _He wasn't paying attention, but he felt a hand touch his arm, causing Hiro to jump. A woman was crouched over, warm brown eyes studying him framed by long, dark brown hair. Her features had a decidedly Asian cast, and she was looking worriedly at him. Only then did he realize that he'd been crying._

 _"Are you all right?"_

 _The question seemed genuine, and Hiro nodded before shaking his head. "I dunno."_

 _She tucked a piece of hair behind an ear as she studied him. "Well, if I had to guess, you're upset about something. Want to talk about it?"_

 _"It's stupid." The woman blinked, but Hiro didn't bother stopping there. "They don't want me. No one does. I'd prolly be better if I just went to a group home."_

 _"Why wouldn't anyone want you?"_

 _That was all it took before the eight year old was talking about the problems he had, how he'd been to half a dozen homes already and no one wanted to keep him, that he was in fights because he was too smart or too young, that none of the adults that he was around liked it when he corrected them or knew more than they did. The woman listened patiently, her brow furrowed. Not once did she interrupt, and Hiro was worried he'd made another mistake. He trailed off, not knowing what to say._

 _By this point, the woman had been joined by a man who looked to be the same age, though to the young boy, that was 'old'. He had brown cropped hair, brown eyes, and a closely-trimmed beard. The man looked to Hiro and back to the woman curiously. "Hey_ _Xiáng. Who's this?"  
_

 _Xiáng looked at the man and shook her head. "I don't know. We hadn't gotten that far yet." She threw a wink toward Hiro and smiled. "Maybe we should find that out."_

 _"Hiro. Um, Hiro Takachiho. What's your names?" The words tumbled from the boy's lips, and he glanced at the two adults curiously._

 _"Well, I'm Xiáng Davenport, and this is my husband, Zane." The man nodded and held out his hand after his wife introduced them which Hiro took warily. "We'd just come down to finish up some paperwork."_

 _"Wait, you're foster parents?"_

 _Zane nodded,_ _Xiáng resting her elbows on her knees as she watched them both. "We just got the certification today, yeah."_

 _A cough sounded behind the two adults, causing Hiro and the Davenports to look over and notice Ms. Martinez standing behind them, Hiro's previous family walking down the hall to the exit. "Well, this is a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect to run into you talking to strangers, Hiro."_

 _"Oh, um…" A faint blush dusted across Hiro's face. He did have a reputation of being really quiet, didn't he? He hadn't thought that talking to strangers would be easy, not like this. He was usually a stuttering mess until he felt comfortable._

 _Xiáng must have noticed his discomfort but she stood, giving the young boy a smile before turning to the case worker. "I'm sorry. He just looked so sad and I figured that I could try and cheer him up. He's really sweet though." Another blush, this time stronger than the last, crossed Hiro's features at the unexpected compliment. How long had it been since he'd heard something like that?_

 _Ms. Martinez simply shook her head. "Oh, no problem. I'm just glad he had someone to talk to out here. I was worried for a moment about him." A look crossed the woman's face as she looked at the couple. "Though, I couldn't help but overhear. You just finished your certification, right?"_

 _Zane nodded. "Yeah. We were told that we'd be getting contacted sometime about placement sometime soon."_

 _The case worker's face turned pensive for a moment as she considered something. "Well, I know it's short notice, but would you be willing to take Hiro in? He was just dropped off today and there's only so much we can do since it's nearly the end of the day. It'd be temporary until we find him a new place, but as long as your certification is good…"_

 _Xiáng simply shook her head. "Oh no, we don't mind at all. We hadn't thought of having a child placed so soon, but if it's an emergency I'm sure we can help out." She glanced over to her husband, but Zane was already nodding._

 _"Excellent. Well, if you'll step into my office, I can get some of this squared away so that you can take him home then." Ms. Martinez smiled and gestured toward the door. Meanwhile, Hiro blinked and felt something loosen in his chest._

 _Although it hadn't been stated, the fact was that maybe, maybe, he had found people that actually wanted him around._

* * *

Hiro was stuck looking between Tadashi and Ethel during lunch, wondering what kind of parallel dimension he had stepped into. Literally no one but the teachers bothered to help him out ever, so it was really weird that two students, older ones that he knew from experience hated being shown up by someone younger than him (and he'd already done that with Tadashi wondering if he could just push the button already that would drive the older male away before he got hurt) would willingly help him out. He spent the rest of the lunch period wondering when the other shoe was going to drop, but it never did, and it made the boy nervous.

To his credit, Tadashi hadn't moved from his seat since Ethel had called him on being protective. There had to be a story there, but Ethel had been more interested in doing her notes than anything else, only shooting Tadashi a look every once in a while. Tadashi had taken the time to read through some of his notes and even nudged Hiro into talking about what Tadashi was studying every now and then. The older male probably realized that Hiro was bored with classes or something, because he was taking the time to explain some things that Hiro was having some difficulty understanding.

Thankfully the lunch period ended and the three went their separate ways, though Tadashi looked more reluctant to than Ethel did. She'd grabbed the teen's arm and dragged him off, popping her gum loudly and rolling her eyes at Hiro as if to say, _'See?'_ Hiro didn't particularly see, but he went about the rest of his school day in relative peace ignoring the looks he got from some of the other students about his appearance.

It was going home that proved to be the problem, as when he closed his locker for the day, he was confronted by the sight of Frank and Gabe, the two sophomores that had beat him up that morning. "I thought we told you not to say a word Takachiho."

Hiro rolled his eyes. "I didn't. You're the ones making it obvious you did something." He tried to move away, but found his path blocked. "Like right now. You might wanna rethink this whole terror aspect you're going for."

"Whatever brat. The hell did you tell Hamada and Yi for anyway?"

"I didn't tell them anything. I already said that." Hiro pulled a face. "What, the nerd and the girl happen to be secret badasses?" He was suddenly reminded that Ethel had mentioned Tadashi's red belt, and had stopped him from confronting Gabe and Frank.

Frank rolled his eyes and gave Gabe a look. "You're hearing this kid, right? The brat's just asking for trouble."

"Hey, I'm not the one picking on someone half my size." Hiro certainly felt braver than he was while saying that, and he was pretty sure the two guys could tell. "Look, why don't we just leave well enough alone and head home, okay? Bù zuō sǐ jiù bú huì sǐ, no zuo no die."

"What was that?" Gabe looked annoyed, which Hiro didn't necessarily blame him for.

"Figure it out yourself. I'm heading home." He tried to duck around them, only for his hoodie to be grabbed and he felt his back meet the locker instead.

"Considering you insulted me, I think I'm just gonna teach you how to speak better English."

Suddenly a pop echoed through the hallway, and the three stopped, though only Hiro relaxed slightly. "I think he was giving you advice, but I'm not that up on my Chinese." They turned to look at Tadashi, who was leaning against a wall with his hands in his pockets. Ethel was just watching silently, her arms crossed and waiting. How long they had been there, Hiro didn't know, but it was apparent that the sophomores didn't know they were there either.

Frank backed off, shooting a nasty glare at Hiro before looking at the two seniors. His eyes narrowed, he jerked his head and he and Gabe walked off, though not without Frank sending a parting remark at the group. "Still can't be everywhere Hamada."

"Well that was fun." Hiro blinked and looked back toward the pair of seniors. Ethel rolled her eyes as she watched the two walk off, her hand on Tadashi's shoulder. She pointed at Hiro. "You have a mouth though."

"Doesn't everybody?" Hiro was trying to act as nonchalant as he could while inside he was trying to calm down.

Tadashi was rubbing his forehead as he relaxed, his frown firmly in place as he replied. "Well, not everyone uses it to talk back to people like that. You know you could have been pounded, right?"

"Yeah, well this time I didn't so I call that a win. Besides, I already got pounded earlier. They had just thought that I'd said something to you." Hiro crossed his arms. "Which, by the way, with you acting like some guard dog was what they thought happened."

Ethel looked at Tadashi with exasperation. "Told you."

"Okay, I get it." Tadashi threw up his hands. "I'll try not to overreact like that again."

"Which will last until the next time those two harass him." Ethel popped her gum while studying Hiro. "So, where'd you learn Chinese?"

"Oh, I um…" Hiro winced mentally. He really didn't want to talk about that. Mrs. Davenport had been perfectly fluent, and when he'd overheard her one day on the phone with some of her relatives from Guangzhou, he couldn't help but pick up a few words. She'd been ecstatic that he seemed interested to learn and had proceeded to teach him as much Chinese as she could. He wasn't nearly fluent, but he'd learned pretty quickly. He just rarely got to use the language nowadays.

Tadashi must have sensed his unease because the teen shrugged. "Well, I think it's cool. You're probably better than I am at it. I just learned from a friend when I was helping him with his Japanese."

Ethel cocked an eyebrow before shaking her head. "Well, as lovely as this chat's turning, I have to head out. Catch you later Tadashi, kid."

She punched them both in the arm before leaving, and both males were rubbing their arms. Hiro looked over to Tadashi before looking down to the floor, scuffing his sneaker across the vinyl. "Um, thanks."

Tadashi glanced over. "Hm?"

"For, you know. Stopping that fight. Thanks."

Tadashi simply slung an arm over his shoulders and gave a small chuckle. "Hey, no problem. Besides, I figured I might as well walk home with you today so…" He gestured to the lockers. "You ready to go or do you need to grab anything?"

"Nope, I'm good." Hiro smiled a bit, readjusted his bag, and walked out with the senior.

* * *

Over the next week, he found himself being taken to and from school by Tadashi. The teen never seemed to complain, instead pointing out that he had nothing to do. His foster parents however were mad that he had gotten into a fight and had promptly grounded him. No matter what he said in his defense, they didn't believe it and Hiro found himself stuck in the same cycle of school, home, school, home that he'd despised. They'd grilled him over it, and when they discovered Tadashi was walking with him, they proceeded to blame him for Hiro's behavior. Tadashi had been confused by the accusation before Hiro pointed out that it hadn't been the first time he had been blamed for fights.

"Wait, so let me get this straight. You're telling me that you've been in fights before, but they don't believe you when you told them that you never started them?" Tadashi looked confused as he handed Hiro a small bag. Hiro had been confused the first time that it happened, up until he found out there was a muffin every morning inside.

Not like Hiro was ever one to pass up food, he dug it out and took a bite of it as they walked. "'M kinda used to i' by now." Hiro swallowed what was in his mouth before looking over to the teen. "At least this family didn't send me straight back when it happened."

Tadashi narrowed his eyes, and Hiro was suddenly reminded of the comment that Ethel had made of the teen's protective streak. "That's not right. And they're blaming _me_ for what happened?"

"Pretty much." Hiro took another bite of his muffin, completely missing the fact that Tadashi had stopped and looked like he was considering something. He took a couple of steps before glancing back. "What?"

Tadashi shook his head. "Just thinking. Come on, we don't want to be late."

Hiro rolled his eyes but sped up a bit to match Tadashi's strides. "You know, we'd get there a lot faster if you drove us."

"I don't have my license yet, knucklehead, or did you forget that I'm fifteen?" Tadashi chuckled a bit. "Besides, walking's good for you."

"If you say so." Hiro sighed dramatically.

They got to the school quickly enough, Tadashi taking his usual seat at his table while Hiro grabbed a breakfast. They traded banter a bit before they set about their usual routine of reading up on things. Or well, Tadashi reading while Hiro flipped lazily through his schoolbooks, thoroughly bored. He then glanced over to the teen, a curious expression on his face. "You know, you would make an awesome older brother."

Tadashi stilled, making Hiro wonder if he'd said the wrong thing before he sighed. "No, I wouldn't make a good older brother."

Hiro blinked. "Why do you say that? I mean, you've got the whole thing down, all that's missing is a younger sibling."

"I used to have one." Tadashi winced, clearly not comfortable. "He died because we had an argument."

"Oh." What was he supposed to say to that? Sorry it happened? He knew that Tadashi's parents weren't around anymore considering he lived with his aunt, but that he had a brother Hiro had no clue. "I, um, I didn't mean to make you upset."

"It's okay." Tadashi shook his head, clearly trying to shake off whatever funk he had at the mention before he glanced toward Hiro. "I just don't talk about him much. It's been seven years, so it doesn't hurt talking about him, it just…"

"Makes you miss him?" Tadashi blinked toward the boy, but Hiro understood. Probably too well. "I get that. I mean, my last foster family died in an accident, and I miss them so…"

"Well, I think everyone misses their loved ones when they die. The way you talk about them makes me think they were pretty good people." Tadashi gave a small smile before he shoved his chemistry notes over. "Okay, change of topic."

"Yeah definitely." Was it his imagination, or was Tadashi trying not to cry? Hiro would have asked if he didn't think that would be prying too much. However, considering the topic had drifted to the Davenports, he was willing to change the topic just as much as Tadashi was. "So, what's with chemistry here? Anything good?"

"That all depends on your definition of good." For the rest of that morning, they happily talked about compounds and mixtures. Neither one brought up the topic of family again.

* * *

 _The actual saying Hiro quoted in this chapter:_

不作死就不会死

 _Or, in other words, "If you don't do stupid things, they won't come back and bite you in the ass (but if you do, they most certainly will )." Thank you to my Chinese friend who helped me make sure I was using it correctly. Also, the characters are included for those who actually do read them instead of pinyin._

 _One more chapter and this fic will be caught up with the current one, and then it's back to updating when I finish a chapter. I had it at one point written ahead of time, and then Gogo happened and I had to chuck like all of the chapters after the third. Fun times there._


	5. It's a Process

_Well, we have finally caught up to what I have on AO3. Now it's just a matter of me working on the current chapter. That shouldn't take too long, hopefully._

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 _It's a Process_

* * *

 _Tadashi was in one of those moods. He'd been grounded for a week for getting into a fight, and his aunt was about at wit's end with him. He would be at the dojo right now, but his sensei decided that if he was there, he was sitting everything out. He didn't know what he was supposed to do though. He'd give anything to stop being angry, but he couldn't._

 _Currently the ten year old was seated in his room, bored out of his mind and trying not to dwell on the last fight he'd been in. He had a split lip and a bruise forming on his shoulder from the contact with the ground, but the other guy had come out worse. All it had taken was a comment about his family, and Tadashi's anger had spiked. Again._

 _He could hear his aunt downstairs, on the phone with someone. Tadashi simply stared out his window, rolling his desk chair back and forth. He hadn't quite been paying attention to much of anything, aware that he had been suspended from school again for fighting. His aunt had been furious, and a distant part of him wondered if Cass was going to send him off somewhere to deal with him._

 _He glanced over when he heard his door click open, and his aunt came in bearing two cups. She paused when he saw him, and he could already tell what was on her mind. He'd been sitting in the dark now for hours, with only the window showing any light. It probably didn't look good, but Tadashi was beyond caring._

 _"Tadashi? I brought up some tea. Mind if I sit with you?"_

 _Tadashi felt his tongue suddenly glued to the roof of his mouth and he couldn't speak. Instead, a sound in between a grunt and a hum was what came out, and Cass seemed to relax a bit before starting toward his desk. Wait, was she nervous of him? Scared?_

 _He swallowed as she set a cup down next to him on the desk before she took a seat on his bed. It was a mess, heck, his whole room was a mess, but it made the empty room seem less lonely. He pulled his knees up to his chest, not touching the tea as his aunt seemed to consider her words carefully._

 _"I'm taking you to see someone tomorrow." Tadashi's eyes widened and he curled around his knees more. "I think I should have done it sooner, but I didn't know if it'd make this worse or not. I just, I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore Tadashi."_

 _Tadashi found the outside of his window a much better place to look at, and he swallowed against the lump in his throat. Was he supposed to say something? He wasn't sure, and he could hear the hurt in his aunt's voice._

 _"Look, Tadashi, remember that promise we made months ago? That we were Hamadas and we could do this?" Tadashi remembered it. It seemed so long ago, and he shivered a bit before he was able to stop it. "Well, that promise only works if we both try. I have been. I don't know what I can do for you if you don't meet me in the middle though."_

 _"You're not mom or dad." The words were whispered, and he bit his lip. However, once started, the words just kept coming, and it seemed like it was trying to stop a tsunami. "You're not. And it's my fault. Kaasan and tousan would be here now if it weren't for me. Hiro-" His voice caught, and he swallowed against the sudden lump in his throat._

 _"It's not your fault kiddo." There was a tremor in her voice, and Tadashi turned to look at her. "You didn't do anything. None of this is-"_

 _"Of course it's my fault! Dad wouldn't have been distracted. Mom wouldn't have yelled. It's my fault!" He buried his face in his knees and tried to swallow past the sudden disgust that was twisting in his gut. His aunt couldn't understand. She didn't know. Tadashi had never said what happened that day in the car, and he couldn't look at himself without shame and disgust warring within him. That and anger. So much anger._

 _He felt something touch his shoulder and he flinched, but the touch never receded. Instead, he felt himself drawn into a hug that he didn't want to have, but was frozen and couldn't pull away if he wanted to. When the hug loosened, he raised his face to see his aunt looking at him carefully. "Tadashi, we're going to the therapist, okay? The doctor is really good with grief counseling, and if he doesn't work out, we can find another, okay?"_

 _Tadashi didn't think it was okay, but his aunt looked so hopeful that he nodded anyway. He never liked hurting her, after all, and that was all he was doing. That was about all it seemed he was able to do anymore._

* * *

Tadashi had a plan. The plan was devious, it was probably going to use every ounce of cunning he had. It would probably require multiple uses of his puppy eyes.

Too bad he was older than nine and couldn't really use them as effectively as he used to.

Nevertheless, he was seated in the café, reading through notes he'd taken earlier that day and working on his homework, cursing the fact that he'd just been assigned a report. And waiting. Aunt Cass was busy with customers, and he wasn't about to interrupt her while she was with customers. Not with something like this.

He rehearsed just what he wanted to say, going over and over in his head. He hadn't even worked on his assignment much, instead staring at the book in front of him and tapping his pencil on its surface. Instead, the question that had been on his mind all day ran through his head, and he barely paid attention when someone refilled his drink to nod.

The crowd eventually thinned as the afternoon went on, and Tadashi was glad it wasn't beat poetry night, knowing his aunt kept the café open later on those nights. His knee jiggled as he watched some of the last of the customers filter out. When the last person was out the door, Tadashi sighed and stood, gathering his books and bag and took it upstairs. He might as well help out since he couldn't concentrate on his homework.

Volunteering to clean up the front area at least kept him from pacing as he waited. He wiped down tables, put the chairs up, and swept and mopped the dining area as his aunt and the other workers closed up the back area. By the time he was done, Cass had already locked the door behind the girl leaving before she turned her attention to her nephew.

"I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Want to help me whip some dinner up real fast?"

Tadashi smiled. "Yeah, sure Aunt Cass."

The two made their way up to the kitchen, Tadashi still working out what he wanted to say to his aunt as she went about gathering up the ingredients for dinner. Apparently they were having tacos tonight, and she got the ground beef out while he went about chopping up onions to add to the browning meat.

They worked in silence for a moment or two, Tadashi focused on his task and glad that he had something to do with his hands, before Cass decided to speak up. "So, you've been off in space today. Want to talk about it?"

Tadashi winced mentally. He recalled when he was younger that she always started off conversations like that when she knew something was bothering him. Especially when he was still grieving the loss of his family. "I, um, I was thinking…"

"Must be pretty serious if you've been spacing out during your homework." Cass gave him a light smile and stirred the beef in the pan before adding in the onion Tadashi had already chopped. "So, what about?"

"Did you ever want another kid after you adopted me?" Nope, that didn't sound awkward coming out. He glanced over to his aunt for a moment as she stirred the beef before her.

"Well, I hadn't thought of it. I mean, I had my hands pretty full when you were younger and really angry at everything."

"But you would do it again if someone needed it, right?" Tadashi bit his lip, finishing up with the onion before he went to work on cutting up the lettuce.

Aunt Cass sighed as she turned down the heat for the food to let it simmer in some spices she had just added. ""Okay Tadashi, what's going on?" She turned to look at him with her arms crossed.

"I… have a friend." Tadashi finished with the lettuce and set the knife aside, knowing that whatever they needed next could wait. His aunt, on the other hand, could not. Not with the questions she had. He put the lettuce into a bowl before he turned to look at his aunt, brushing his hands off. "He's, um, he's an orphan, and has been in the foster system for seven years. Apparently no one wants him, and I was wondering if, well…"

"Oh, sweetie." Cass abandoned her stern look in exchange for giving her nephew a tight hug, nearly crushing with it, but Tadashi never minded. "It's about that time of year again, isn't it?"

Tadashi was about to ask what time of year, before reason caught up with him and he winced. Way to forget about your parents, bonehead, he berated himself silently. It was hard to forget about his brother, but his parents were another story. He had a feeling that she wasn't meaning his parents though and instead referring to his Hiro. "Yeah, it is, but that's not the reason, really."

"All right then." Cass busied herself around the kitchen, sparing her nephew a look every now and then as she went about it like a cooking maniac. Or someone that knew their way around the kitchen as well as he did around his workspace in his room. "Lay it on me."

And he did. Tadashi explained about Hiro's life, the fact that he'd gone from foster home to foster home, the fights the younger boy had been in. Tadashi had tried to explain it as best he could, and he could see that Cass was thinking as she moved around the kitchen. He rubbed the back of his neck as she worked; knowing that he probably came off as he usually did in these situations.

She had finished up with dinner and set it on the table after a pause in the conversation, taking a seat. Tadashi joined her, feeling nervous as he picked at his food. "So, um…"

"You want me to tell you what I think." At Tadashi's nod, Cass sighed. "Well, I know you have a protective streak a mile wide."

"Yeah, I know but-"

"Tadashi, let me finish." She folded her hands as Tadashi shifted nervously. "You have a protective streak, and that's not a bad thing, but are you sure about this? I mean, this might be all because he has Hiro's name and everything and I don't want you to get hurt because of it."

"How would I get hurt?" Tadashi looked confused at his aunt.

"Well, for one thing, I don't think you've ever stopped blaming yourself for Hiro's death, or that of your parents." Cass gave him a knowing look. "You also get too wrapped up in helping other people."

Tadashi opened his mouth to protest when Cass dropped the final nail.

"I just don't want to see you get so in over your head that you suffer for it."

That caused Tadashi's mouth to snap shut, a guilty feeling building in his chest. He swallowed, looking down to the taco that he was loosely holding in his hand. He knew she was right, and he knew that his tendency to go overboard was well-documented considering the fights he used to get into in school, but he knew this was different. Much more so than he probably thought his aunt realized.

"Tadashi?"

"I know all that." Biting his lip, he looked back to his aunt. "I do. I just… I don't know. I feel like I need to help him out. Yeah, I know it makes me sound like I'm eleven again and getting into fights all the time, but…" Cass studied her nephew for a while, her brows furrowed as he fidgeted. Yeah, no, this wasn't awkward at all. He could already tell that she had a lot of reservations about this, heck, even he did to some degree, but he recognized that it needed to be done.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but Cass held up a hand. "You really feel this strongly about it, huh?" At Tadashi's nod, she shook her head, a smile playing across her features. "You kiddo have too much of your father in you. He always wanted to help people too."

Tadashi blinked, thinking. He heard some of the stories about his father from his aunt, but she tended to talk about the things that he used to do for Tadashi back when Thomas and Mae were still alive. She didn't mention often the things that she knew about his father from growing up with him. "He did?"

Cass laughed lightly. "Oh yeah. He had to pick the smallest kid in class and protect them from the bullies. Never got in fights though. He had a way of talking circles around them instead." She then speared him with a look. "Which was something I had hoped you had taken more after."

Tadashi looked suitably embarrassed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I um, I never thought about that to be honest."

Cass shook her head, looking bemused. "Darn right you didn't, mister. Anyway," she sighed and bit her lip, "if you really want to help, and this isn't some hidden guilt, then I can see what I can do. No guarantees."

Tadashi gave her a slight smile. "Thanks Aunt Cass."

"Don't thank me yet. Remember, I can always be denied, and the last time I was related to you. It's a whole lot different when you're not related." She then shook her finger at him, a teasing smile on his face. "Now eat up. You still need to finish that homework you have, mister."

Tadashi groaned.

* * *

"So, what kind of stupid thing did you do now, Tadashi?"

Tadashi looked over to Ethel, who was sitting next to him in government class and giving him a look that suggested that she was onto him. It was right before class was about to start, and there was some quiet time between the bell and the teacher entering. Well, it would be quiet, if three-quarters of the class weren't talking to each other. Tadashi had been in the minority, but looked up from his phone when Ethel addressed him. "I didn't do anything stupid, you know."

Ethel rolled her eyes. "Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Remind me again who it was that had pulled you away from doing an all-nighter with that computer you just _had_ to rebuild for Jamie in tenth grade?"

"One, his computer died on him and I was the only one he knew that had enough know-how to actually work on it, and two, I still haven't done anything stupid." Tadashi crossed his arms, his phone forgotten on his desk as he looked at Ethel. "Besides, it wasn't stupid to rebuild that computer."

"Except when you had an exam due in the morning that you couldn't have made up since Mr. Hernandez is a complete asshole about his students not being ready." A loud pop accentuated her words, and Ethel cocked her eyebrow in challenge. "Besides, I _know you,_ Tadashi Hamada. You might not be broadcasting it all over the school, but you still did something."

Tadashi groaned. Aunt Cass had said not to mention anything to anyone since she wasn't sure that she'd be able to even get the paperwork through, and unlike last time with him, there could be someone in the wings waiting for approval to adopt Hiro. His aunt had taken the reasonable route in the whole scenario, knowing that everything that was being done was for a kid, yes, but realizing that they weren't the only ones that could help. Still, that didn't help the fact that his best friend could read him like an open book.

"Fine, fine." He ran a hand through his hair, missing the fact that he wasn't wearing his favorite cap as always when he was at school. "But this goes no further than you and me, okay?"

A pop was his only answer as Ethel studied him carefully, and Tadashi could only take that as she wouldn't say a word. Ethel always worked like that. "I may or may not have asked my aunt if there was a way we could adopt Hiro," he mumbled under his breath.

"Oh. My. God. Seriously." Okay, so maybe she could read into his statement a lot more than Tadashi liked. "You have taken this to obsession levels, you know that, right?"

"I have not!" Tadashi scowled, not liking the implication that Ethel was stating. "I just can't sit by if there's some way I can help."

"Whatever Hamada. Just don't expect for me to bail you out again." She popped her gum in a note of finality just as the teacher walked into the room. Tadashi didn't have a chance to say anything more, instead busying himself with the work that was being put out.

She didn't broach the topic again, leaving Tadashi to go to her own classes that she didn't share with the fifteen year old as he made his way to his. Tadashi worried about what was on her mind about the subject, but he didn't get a chance to ask until lunch, to which she just gave a noncommittal hum and buried her nose in her notes. Hiro on the other hand simply looked confused, and Tadashi wasn't about to say anything when he didn't want to get the kid's hopes up.

It wasn't until later, when he was gathering his things to get home, that his locker door shut unexpectedly on him and Ethel was standing there, blowing a bubble and popping it. She didn't give him a chance to say anything, instead grabbing his wrist and dragging him through the halls to where Hiro's locker was.

Hiro merely looked up, blinking as he spotted the two seniors standing in front of him as he shut his own locker slowly. "Um, anything going on or something…?"

"We're going out."

The statement was blunt, and Tadashi stared at Ethel.

"Well, congratulations. I didn't even think you'd be wanting to date or anything."

Tadashi groaned as Ethel punched Hiro lightly in the arm. "Not that kind of going out. We are going out to do something. The three of us."

"Wait, I just got off being grounded. I can't go anywhere unless my family says I can." Hiro's eyebrows were up to his hairline, and Tadashi palmed his face. Oh, this was going over well.

Ethel rolled her eyes in response. "Of course you can't. That's why you're going to call them. If they want to talk to me, it's no prob. But we are going to get out of our respective houses, and we are going to actually have an afternoon together."

Tadashi wasn't sure what Ethel had in mind, and neither did Hiro. What neither of them expected was for her to drag the two of them down to a gaming center, complete with games and-

"A batting cage. Ethel, I haven't swung a bat in years. You know that."

"Then it'll be good practice." Ethel rolled her eyes, and then directed her eyes at Hiro. "Unless you don't want to go batting, which in that case, we can find some other game to go for. Pretty sure if you wanted to try your luck at racing games, I could play you."

"Fine, you're on!" Tadashi only looked heavenward as he knew, _knew_ that Hiro didn't know how many quarters Ethel had wasted on racing games just to get her speed fix. That, combined with her bike with no breaks (and Tadashi had _tried_ installing some on her bike once with disastrous effect) as well as a car that had too many speeding tickets stuck in her glove box, and he was certain Hiro was going to be creamed.

Ethel had been nice, letting Hiro win the first two games to lull him into a false sense of security, before proceeding to cream him with the next three. Then it was Tadashi's turn, and he lost to her handily. She then let Hiro have a turn racing against Tadashi, and she passed by Tadashi with a whispered, "Get to know him first. Nice kid, but know what you're getting yourself into."

Tadashi turned to look at her, surprised, but Ethel turned her attention to the game instead. Hiro was already inserting coins into the machine, completely oblivious to what had been stated. Tadashi shifted a bit before he inserted his own coins, which had Ethel nodding before she excused herself to grab something to drink.

"So, you ready to be creamed Tadashi?" Hiro turned his attention to the older boy, cocky smile in place as he chose his vehicle.

Tadashi shrugged as he selected his own. "Not a chance, Hiro. I've actually had some driving lessons."

Hiro rolled his eyes. "Oh, I'm so intimidated. Who's the genius again?"

Tadashi chuckled and shook his head as he selected manual. "Well, genius or not, experience does help here."

"Which is why you're gonna be creamed Hamada." Hiro selected manual for himself and let his hand settle over the stick shift.

They were soon distracted by the start of the race, Hiro having a bit of a rough time by bumping into some cars while Tadashi maneuvered his way through the other vehicles. Soon Tadashi was more focused on the game at hand, grinning himself as he relaxed a bit more.

He however blinked as he saw Hiro edge in front of him before he looked over at the younger boy. Hiro had a blasé expression on his face as he went through the track, and Tadashi suddenly found himself having to return his attention to the game. It turned into a good thing, as Tadashi had to avoid a collision with another car before he sped off to catch up with the younger boy.

It wasn't until the end of the race, with Hiro winning comfortably, that Tadashi frowned. "Okay, how did you learn to drive like that?"

"Oh, that? I um, I've played racing games before like this." Hiro shrugged before he looked over. "Besides, it's safer than the real thing, right? You get into a crash, no one's hurt in a game. Well, except maybe pride."

Tadashi found that comment odd, but shrugged it off. "That's true."

"What about you? You drive like a granny or something." Hiro snickered.

Tadashi rolled his eyes. "I do not. I just don't like crashing."

"Which is why you're the nerd and I'm not." Hiro got up and stretched. "Well, I don't know about you, but while I like racing games, I could really do for something a bit more like a fighting game."

Tadashi and Hiro ended up making their way to several games, and Tadashi was trounced in three of the four. The last one they had played had probably been a fluke, especially since Hiro seemed to be having trouble with the controls. The two left the last game, Hiro grumbling under his breath about taking it apart to fix the problem.

Tadashi listened, quite familiar with the terms Hiro was using to describe what he planned to do with the console. When the younger boy slouched as he walked, Tadashi had a sudden idea. "So, you want to check out the batting cages?"

Hiro side-eyed the older teen. "Is that a not-so-subtle hint that you want to try them out?"

Tadashi nodded a bit, looking a bit bashful. "Well, seems like so far all I've done today is lose spectacularly to you and Ethel, so a round there might be a nice finish."

Hiro frowned, looking thoughtful. "So, what are we doing here anyway? Kinda seems weird that Ethel just takes us out like this, you know?"

Tadashi blinked and looked around for the Korean girl. Ethel seemed to be busy on one of the bike simulators, so he turned his attention back to Hiro. "I think it's just a chance to hang out. Usually we're both sitting at the lunch table talking over schoolwork or walking to and from school."

"This doesn't happen to be about whatever it is that's had you distracted all day, does it?" At Tadashi's incredulous expression, Hiro shrugged. "Not saying there's anything wrong, just you've been looking at me like there's something on your mind."

"A bit, yeah…" Tadashi rubbed the back of his neck. "It's just something I thought of recently, and it's nothing bad, I just need to wait and see on it."

"Anything you can tell me about or..?" Hiro cocked an eyebrow at him and Tadashi nearly palmed his face. Of course Hiro would pick up on it. It'd be hard for the kid not to pick up on it.

Regardless, Tadashi shook his head. "Um, no, it's just something my aunt's considering. I'm not worried about it, since it'll either happen or it won't."

"If you're sure." Hiro gave him another look, and Tadashi simply shrugged.


End file.
